Students from Trona, got together for fire safety and demonstrations last week.

As part of Fire Prevention Week, the San Bernardino Fire Department came out to Trona Elementary for some hands-on fire safety tips with the assistance of students from the high school fire science regional occupancy program.

Students from K-3 grade had a day filled with fire tips, a visit from Spiky the SBFD mascot and had fun squirting water. The kids played on and inspected fire trucks and used the firefighters’ high pressure water hose to spray water and get a feel of what it’s like to be a firefighter in action.

Beatrix Ramirez, recruitment specialist for the school's ROP program, said the program had younger students learning many fire safety techniques. The students learned the tried and true method of “stop, drop and roll” along with a tour a mock-burning building.

The test and simulator trailer of the SBFD is a simple yet highly effective teaching tool. The trailer has floors plans similar to that of a house, with bedrooms, a living room and windows — all with specific purposes.

The young students are given a tour of the trailer. The trailer is filled with fog that simulates smoke, and the students learn how to navigate through the veil to safety. There is a phone in the living room that students learned to use to call 911. The phone is hooked up to a mock operator so the kids an hear what a real operator sounds like, Ramirez explained. The operator asks the kids questions and gives the kids additional instructions.

Learning to operate a land-line telephone is something younger students have to know. With the advent of cellular telephones and the Internet, fewer and fewer students can operate a land-line phone, or know what a dial tone is, or even their own home phone number.

There is also a mock bedroom for practice in checking for fire and in devising an escape plan.

The room is filled with fog and students learn to stay beneath the layers of fog for safety and crawl to safety. The students learn to check a door for heat, meaning if its too hot to back away and find another route out.

The students learned to crawl to a window for help. And to keep moving can be a key to safety. Students learned that the its not a good idea to hide under a bed or in a closet, Ramirez explained. She said the firefighters told the kids that if they go into a house looking to save people from a fire, they can't always find the people that are hiding. The kids were then assisted by older students how to escape through a window to safety. She said the experience can be frightening as it feels and sounds so real.

Page 2 of 2 - Eight Fire Technology ROP students from Trona High School assisted the younger kids.

Ramirez said the fire safety lessons for the younger kids and the assistance of the ROP kids has become an annual event.

The Fire Technology class with professor and Fire Chief Doris VanHorn is very popular in Trona, Ramirez said.